‘Big Brother,’ Week 7: TV Recap

After the drama of Judd’s backdoor ouster in week six’s double eviction, the power players are now primed to make their run to the end. On one side, there is there is Amanda and on the other there is Helen. They each have their allies (McRanda, anyone?) and their attributes, but it seems to boil down to the two of them. Before delving into their positions and paths to the $500K, let’s look back at the week that was.

After the frantic, completely live eviction of Judd, Andy wins Head of Household in a tournament-style competition that requires houseguests to balance and guide a ball, representing a cherry, along an oversized banana into an ice-cream dish (kind of like that game Labyrinth, except there is no maze). The competition is fairly bland, notable mainly for a quarrel that erupts between Amanda and McCrae over their head-to-head duel in the semifinals. McCrae obliviously wins, and Amanda is bummed. Amanda expected McCrae to let her win, for she misses her family and the HOH trappings would bring a letter from home, most likely. And the male half of past showmances have allowed their better halves to win–see also, Brendon and Rachel and Jeff and Jordan, players from seasons past. So much for chivalry in the BB house.

Andy beats McCrae in the finals and takes HOH honors. He also has to pick the haves and have-nots. Much like his eventual nominees, he makes no big move. In fact, the have-nots volunteer themselves: Aaryn (playing the good witch, as she says), Helen, Elissa and GinaMarie. Andy’s hands? Clean.

While Andy views his victory as proof that he’s here to play, his actions as HOH show anything but. Despite entreaties from Helen to make a game-changing move, he demurs on nominating Amanda and McCrae. Not only does he have a secret alliance with them, but he also says it’s too soon to make such a big play. I guess that’s what one would think when they’re trying to play the middle: betray or be true?

Guess which way he goes.

Saying his nominations are what he needs to do secure his position in the game, Andy remains circumspect and nominates Jessie and Spencer for eviction. Andy’s hands? Still clean.

Helen is disappointed in the nominations, and tells Andy so. Andy, of course, tells Amanda and McCrae everything Helen wants to do. They’re not ready to pull the eviction trigger on her yet, but they’re now on alert for when will be the best moment to make their move.

It’s time for McRanda and Andy to beef up their three-way alliance and pull in another. In a late-night strategy session, they invite Aaryn into the fold. Aaryn likes the idea and she’s in. What to call themselves? Well, how about 3AM, Aaryn suggests. They like. I think it’s a reference to the time, but it might be code for their first-name initials. (For the longest time I never realized that the TC on the Minnesota Twins baseball caps stood for Twin Cities, so picking up on initialisms isn’t my game.) Either way, the clock is now ticking.

For the first act of 3AM alliance business, Amanda comes up with the genius idea to keep Helen at bay while picking off her numbers: create a faux alliance of Andy, McCrae and Helen. McCrae sells the fake alliance and Helen seems to be buying the notion that McCrae would betray his showmance for a chance at the cash. Part two of Amanda’s plan: throw the veto competition and allow Helen to win, to show their loyalty to her and build up trust.

Come time for the veto competition—which McCrae rightly called would be a counting game—and everyone is ostensibly on board with the plan to let Helen win. Everyone, that is, except Spencer. He vows to go for it if he gets a chance. Indeed, Helen gets off to an early lead but is thwarted when Spencer knocks her off. Amanda is openly angry, and Spencer is exposed. Andy scrambles to play for the win, for he doesn’t want more blood on his hands should he have to nominate a replacement for Spencer. Andy pulls it out—saying it proves he’s a forced to be reckoned with in competition—but Spencer is now on Amanda’s radar as a shady character who is playing for himself to win (gasp!).

Though the BB editors tried to inject some doubt about whether Andy would make a big move at the veto ceremony, he not surprisingly keeps the nominations the same. And in a bid to keep down the drama post-veto and pre-eviction, he advises both Jessie and Spencer that they’re pawns. But Jessie becomes wary when Helen is acting oddly toward her. Andy tries to tamp that down, imploring Helen to play it better so they can get through the week with few ripples. Andy’s hands? Yes, still clean-ish.

Eventually, Jessie overhears that she’s the real target for eviction and so adopts a scorched-earth policy on her way out. She shares secrets, tells of houseguests’ attempted betrayals and generally tries to pit houseguests against one another to blow up their games. It’s a desperate and ultimately futile–but enjoyable–move.

There are several victims of the sabotage, but Helen’s game bears the brunt of the damage as Jessie discloses the several attempts made by Helen in recent weeks to galvanize opposition against Amanda. Helen’s push was known, but it allows Amanda to call one of the all-too-common house meetings to clear the air. Helen’s strategy was to deny, deny, deny, and then walk away.

In the end, while Jessie got to kick back and enjoy the mayhem, it wasn’t enough. By a unanimous vote, 6 (Jessie) to 0 (Spencer), the original showmance seeker is sent to her exit interview with host Julie Chen. Except, we learn, it may not be the final exit, as one juror is going to re-enter the game soon.

Notwithstanding the twist and juror re-entry, the BB house is down to half of its original tenants. There are two clear ruling factions and a small middle. Here’s a little unscientific houseguest handicapping:

– Amanda/McCrae: While they’re really two people, their game is one. Amanda is largely loud and overt in her game play, while McCrae is more covert. They complement each other fairly well. But theirs is a risky strategy and one that risks implosion if the houseguests wake up to the threat of a showmance duo, but so far so good. Andy is in their camp, it seems, and they seem to be hedging their bets well. As a pair, they’d surely go to finals together if given the chance. If they make to the final three, I would think Amanda is the better pick for she probably will have alienated more jurors. Chance of one advancing to finals: 33%

– Helen: Her game play has been up and down. She had a great run in orchestrating several ousters, including the season’s biggest in Judd, but I think she may have overplayed her hand. She’s also put some distance between herself and her main ally Elissa, allowing Elissa to play without getting dirty. That has served to expose Helen to duplicitous players. There’s still time for Helen to regroup, but her chances took a big hit in week 7 and she’s prone to being picked off. Chance of advancing to finals: 17%

– Aaryn: You can’t spell Big Brother without b-i-g-o-t, but Aaryn seems to have recognized her ugliness in character and gotten past her early-season stumbles. She’s been quiet and doing the bidding of the power players the past several weeks, a convenient excuse in the end game and one that has helped her build some trust. She’s shown ability to win competitions, too. The question for her is who will further her game. She seems to be leaning toward the McRanda side, but team Helen is probably the better bet if she doesn’t want to go it alone. Will she see that and jump ship? Chance of advancing to finals: 20%

– Elissa: She stopped being good when the BB producers changed up the MVP twist to keep it from her. Or maybe not being an overtly good player has been the strategy of the houseguest who started the season as likeliest to be ousted from the get-go. She’s survived, but she plays too haphazardly and emotionally to be considered a real threat in my estimation. Chance of advancing to finals: 10%

– Spencer: He’s been playing alone, as a favored pawn, for quite a while. He’s sure to be at the bottom of any faction as the rest of the game plays out, and he’s not won much in the way of competition to help him overcome that. He could well play a key number for someone looking to make a move, but his chances of surviving to the end are remote. Chance of advancing to finals: 10%

– Andy: I guess floating is a game strategy, but I think his loyalty is blinding his game play. McRanda was a good duo to align with, but Andy seems unlikely to cut the bait when needed. Should he make it to the end, history has shown the coattail riders do not often win the brass ring. Chance of advancing to finals: 6%

– GinaMarie: She’s still there, so that’s something. But she’s neither quieted her early-season bigotry nor backed off her confrontational ways. Her chance of making it to the end is as the easy vote against for a more likeable player. Chance of advancing to finals: 3.5%

– Wildcard: Either Candice, Judd, Jessie or this coming week’s evictee will be re-entering the game. Any one of them will have a theoretical shot, perhaps as the needed number on a weaker side, but they’ll likely have to win competitions to advance. In most competitive reality shows, second-chance players are often seen in dim light, rightfully so, by those who’ve earned their spots in the game. Of the possible returnees, I’d take Judd as likeliest to advance—and it’s a slim chance at that. Chance of advancing to finals: 0.5%

So, BB fans and Speakeasy readers, do you agree with these midseason prognostications? How do you see the endgame playing out? Were you as disappointed as I was in Andy’s weak HOH showing? Do you like the twist? Let’s talk game.

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.